


Still There For Him to Hear

by Vanillogical



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fix-It, M/M, Minor Spoilers, pegoryu, semi-fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 21:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19411543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanillogical/pseuds/Vanillogical
Summary: Immediately after the events of Shido's Palace, the Phantom Thieves briefly thought they'd lost Ryuji, and had an... odd reaction when they realized they hadn't. Ren, on the other hand, is overwhelmed with relief.





	Still There For Him to Hear

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in, like, an hour at work 'cause I got excited about the Valentine's Day OVA and needed to do something Pegoryu-related (so I wrote my first fanfic on a whim).
> 
> As much as the whole scene deserves altering, this fic only changes Ren's reaction, and what follows.
> 
> The only spoilers are that Shido has a Palace and that Ryuji was briefly thought dead.
> 
> Thanks for reading, happy Pride, and remember loving Ryuji hours are always!

Ren stepped back, eyes wide at his friends’ reaction. By the time he'd processed what they were doing, they'd stopped, leaving Ryuji slumped on the ground against the streetlight, battered and bewildered.

As the others walked off, Morgana pawed at Ren's arm, nodding in their direction. Ren ignored him and kept watching Ryuji. His blond head was down, his arms limp at his sides, and his left leg stretched out. Ren's chest tightened as a knot on the end of a pulled string.

After a moment, Morgana hopped out of his bag and followed the others. Ren walked over to Ryuji, his thoughts growing less coherent with each step, but his focus unwavering.

“You gonna beat me up too?” Ryuji asked once Ren was just in front of him, his voice faint, resigned, almost cracking.

Ren couldn't hear anything else. He couldn't see anything else. For a moment, he'd imagined what the future would be like if he never got to see or hear Ryuji again. To never see his radiant smile, that bashful but unrepentant expression he wore so often, the cocky gait he walked with. To never hear his indignation or his excitement or that laugh that was like life itself, bright and bubbling and vivid and the most perfect sound Ren could think of.

But now, Ryuji was there, right in front of Ren, sight and sound and all, and Ren didn't have to consider how it would feel to lose him forever. Instead, all he could think was how it would feel to have never held him.

Ren's bag dropped to the ground a moment before the boy himself did, falling to his knees and lunging forward to wrap his arms around Ryuji. He pulled him in as close as he could, holding him as tightly as he could, burying his face in the crook of Ryuji's neck.

Ren felt the other boy start, his lean, muscular frame tensing, but after barely half a moment, Ryuji returned the embrace. He leaned into Ren and rested his hands on his back, their temples rubbing as they shifted. Ryuji's heart pulsed against Ren's own. His warmth soaked into Ren. His shuddering weariness found a steady anchor in Ren's body.

Ren shut his eyes and gripped Ryuji even tighter. A few hot droplets still managed to sneak out and slide down Ren's cheek, landing on Ryuji's shoulder.

They were safe. They'd made it, all of them. Shido had been beaten, but even as that fact gave Ren security, all he cared about was that Ryuji was alive, whole, here, in his arms.

The two pulled back and looked into each other's eyes. The tears Ren had shed were matched in Ryuji, the gentle brown of his eyes slightly distorted by the welling water. 

Gazing into him, Ren felt his own nerves finally still. His kept one hand on Ryuji's shoulder and lifted the other to run it through his matted, golden hair.

“You'd better not tell me to never do that again,” Ryuji said softly, grinning. “'Cause when it comes to the Phantom Thieves, you know I'm always gonna do whatever it takes.” Ren smiled back.

“I know.” Ren rested his hand on the back of Ryuji's neck, and watched the other boy's eyes drift for a moment down to Ren's lips, before snapping up again as he squirmed and let something like embarrassment cross his face.

“D'you think we should catch up with the others?” he asked.

“What for?” Ren replied with a sly, flippant look.

Ryuji laughed. “Yeah, I guess we'll see 'em tomorrow anyways.” He moved a bit and groaned. “Wish they'd said good night in a better way.”

“You know, I am the leader of the Phantom Thieves... I could kick them all out if you want.”

“Dude!” Ryuji shook his head, sounding half-shocked and half-amused. “I don't want that. You can't either, right?”

“No, I don't really,” Ren admitted, “I just can't believe what they did.”

“Ah, I'm sure they just wanted to make sure I'm really okay and here, y'know?” Ryuji shrugged. “I did give you guys a scare, huh?”

“Pssh, no way,” Ren teased. “We didn't even notice you weren't with us.”

“Oh, yeah?” Ryuji leaned forward. “And I'll bet you weren't even freaked a little. Not someone cool and slick and calm like you.”

Ren looked at the concrete below, his smile fading.

“Actually, I don't think I reacted much. I mean, outwardly. I just, kinda, froze up when you weren't there with us. I think it was hitting me all at once what I was going to have to live without, and that... that was too much for me to process right then.” Ren kept his eyes downcast until Ryuji's hand came up to caress his cheek and lift his head.

“If thinking about that's too much for you, then... I promise you won't ever have to. I'll always be right here, next to you. And remember? Your place is right here, next to me.”

Ren's eyes grew hot again, and his pulse took on an almost panicked pace. Returning Ryuji's unbearably soft smile as best he could, Ren stood and helped his best friend up.

“We should probably get home. The later it gets, the more Morgana'll yell at me once I'm back at LeBlanc.”

Ryuji laughed and limped forward. Ren put one arm around his shoulders to help him along, and they walked together down the dark streets, slowly and quietly.

When they reached Ryuji's apartment, Ren let go, his hand briefly sliding down Ryuji's arm and giving a tiny, lingering touch to his hand. 

A moment's gaze passed between them, followed by awkward smiles, nods, waves, and the two turning to head in their respective directions.

Until Ren felt his pulse reach a crescendo, and his chest tighten, and his whole being pull itself back towards Ryuji. He grabbed Ryuji's shoulder, pulled him in close, and kissed him, deeply and gently and overwhelmingly.

Their lips were only together for a couple seconds, and after a flood of emotion and heat swirling amidst the dark cold and a sensation like hot, unholy lightning coursing through the both of them, they stepped back and let air back into their lungs. 

“You were right,” Ren said, barely getting the words out, “the others said good night in a terrible way... I thought I'd do it a little better.”

“That was definitely better.” Ryuji was still breathless. They were silent, their visible breaths rising up to brush against each other's face. Ren bit his lip.

“...see you tomorrow,” he finally said.

“Yeah.” The uncertainty and unmasked thrill he heard in Ryuji's voice exactly reflected the feeling in Ren's heart, and as Ren walked away, nothing could have given him more comfort, more relief, more joy, than the simple fact that it was still there for him to hear.


End file.
